Pivoted side-jaw wrench having manually-controlled slidablewedge lock



Feb. 22, 1949. E, E, CQOPER 2,462,364

PIVOTED SIDE-JAW WRENCH HAVING MANuALLY-CONTROLLED sLIDABLE-WEDGE LocKFiled July 11, 1947 A TTGRIY EYS.

Patented Feb. 22, 1949 OFFICE PIVOTED SIDE-J AW WRENCH HAVING MAN UALLY-CON TROLLED SLIDABLE- WEDGE LOCK Ernest E. Cooper, La Fayette, R. I.

Application July 11, 1947, Serial No. 760,395

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a wrench of the type which is maintained inengagement with a nut or bolt head which itis desired shall be workedupon so that it will be unnecessary to remove the wrench for a freshgrip on the Work.

Wrenches of this general type have usually been formed with some sort ofratchet which is relatively expensive to manufacture or the wrenchesdepend upon some spring action which may yield when heavy pressure isapplied so as to become ineffective.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a wrench which hasthe desirable quality of a ratchet wrench without a ratchet being used.

Another object of this invention is to provide a Wrench which may bemoved about the nut by releasing one of the jaws and which wrench willcause the movable jaw to follow back into engagement with the nut asrelative movement of the wrench and nut occur.

Another object of this invention s to provide a thumb controlled memberwhich may be moved to prevent relative movement of the jaws when inengagement with the Work so that the required amount of torque may beapplied to the work when desired.

Another obj ect of this invention is to mechanically cause the thumbcontrolled member to move out of engagement with the movable jaw, itbeing only necessary to apply pressure-of the thumb for locking the samein position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction which willbe relatively simple to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional View of the wrench;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the body member with the fixed jawsthereof;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the wrench;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the movable jaws;

Fig. 7 is an end view of the jaws shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through one of the control members.

In proceeding with this invention, I provide a body member which issuitably slotted for the reception of the various movable parts whichare mounted thereon. These movable parts consist of a movable jaw tocooperate with the xed jaw, carried by the body at either one or bothends, and a sldably mounted control member which moves into and fromengagement with each movable jaw to hold it in gripping relation or moveit to gripping relation. Springs may be provided causing the jaw to movein one direction and also a spring may be provided for causing thecontrol member of the jaw to move in one direction, the thumb being usedfor moving the control member and in turn the movable jaw in the otherdirection. The structure may be formed of a solid piece of stocksuitably grooved for the reception of the operating parts.

With reference to the drawings, I0 designates the body which is providedwith Xed jaws II at either end which may be formed as one piece with thebody. The movable jaw is designated generally I2 and consists of aportion I3 to cooperate with the fixed jaw II, thus providing a surfaceI4 to engage the diametrically opposite portion of the work from thesurface I5 of the jaw II. This jaw I2 has a leaf portion I6 which willenter a slot I'I in the body portion Il] so that this leaf portion I6will be pivoted by means of pin I8 for rocking movement relative to thebody member I0. This leaf I6 is provided with an abutment arm I9 againstwhich a spring 20 acts while the other end of the spring 20 acts upon anabutment 2| so as to swing the jaw I2 about the pivot pin I8 to move thesurface I4 toward the surface I5. An arm 22 also extends from the jaw I2and is of such shape that it will present a wedge-shaped opening 23between the surface 24 and the edge 25 of the body Il).

A control member 26 has a wedge-shaped end 21 to slide into thiswedge-shaped opening 23 to prevent movement of the movable jaw I2clockwise, as shown at the left in Fig. 1, about its pvot. This controlmember 26 has a portion which is substantially the same thickness as thebody I, while it has a tongue portion 28 which enters a groove in thebody I0 to be guided in its movement along the edge of the body I0. Thistongue is also provided with a slot 29 through which a pin 30 extendsand which pin is fixed in the body. A spring 32 acts between this pinand one end of the slot so as to move the control member 26 away fromthe movable jaw so that the jaw surface I4 can be moved out of nutgripping position. In order to limit the movement of the movable jaw I2about its pivot, an abutment surface 35 (Fig. 4) is provided as a partof the recess for the reception of the leaf I6 and the leaf is providedwith an ear 36 (Fig. 6) to engage this abutment surface and limit themovement of the jaw about its pivot.

A duplicate construtcion but of a different size range will be providedat the opposite end of the body I0.

spring 22 then causing it to move. to.the= right as..

shown in the upper portion of Fig. 1 and then the body may be swungcounterclockwiseso. as, to move thesurfaces i4 and l5 about the nut toobtain a new grip. This action-willbepermitte by reason of the spring 20permitting thejaw-to move about its pivot. When the wrench is adiustedfor. the new. grip, the Spring-4 2.9. will move thesurfaces I4- and i5intoengagement with the surfaceof the nutte` be gripped and then thewedge maybe moved by the thumb so as toprevent` separation ofthesurfaces Il!v andl and the nutmay'then againbey turned, This action maytake placepvery rapidly by simple, movement of thecnfntrol member bytheVthumb as desired.

TheA ja .wja n;lv control members may be very easily madeofsolidstockhwith the leaf or tongue Cut downrom opposite sides of thestock for the purposes desireovl; The body would' bev made of soliol'st.0. 3.ky .suitably slotted.

I claim:

InY a wrenchlak longitudinal body member havingtxedgtherewithone jaw ofa nut receiving recess, a.,second j aw pivotedlito. saidjbody member onsubstantially theV longitudinal center line .thereof and rockable towardand from the xed jaw, a stop to limit movement of the second jaw towardthe rst jaw, a spring to urge said second jaw against said stop, acontrol member slidably mounted on a longitudinal edge of said body andprovided withh aJsurface inclined toy .said longitudinalbOd-r edg;saidsurfacmwhenisaid control member is manually moved'relative to thebody .rnemben engaging the second jaw and urging it toward the rst jawto grip a nut, and a spring to1 retract..V said control member whenmanual pressuregthereon4 is released, whereby said second jaw'willsw-ingagainst the action of its urging spring when the wrench is swungbackwards around the nut in order to obtain a new grip thereonaV IERNEST E. COOPER.

REFERENCES CITED Thejiollowing .references are of record in the leoffthis pat.ent:

UNITED STATES' PATENTS.

Number. Name Date 11,160,737, McCurley.y Nov. 16, 1915 1,379,482. Spongv May. 24, 1921 1,540,451 Christleb.. June2, 1925 1,635,930. Eorsdah1,..v July 12, 1927 1,924,393 Beery Aug. 29, 1933 2,152,708. Genard,June`20, 1939 2,426,191. Feiringf` A ,Aug. 26, 194,7

FOREIGN s PATENTS Number Country Date 4,239; Great Britain Mar. 10, 1891

